Love it or not, HBO's Southern gothic series à la vampire, "True Blood," is a big flashing sign of the times (Sundays, 9-10 p.m. ET). In a little more than a century, we have gone from the Victorian shocker "Dracula"—in which taboo eroticism had to be disguised as horror—to an era when a TV creator's biggest nightmare is finding a taboo left to violate.

"True Blood" fits the bill partly in a jokey way, offering the story of backwoods-Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her vampire boyfriend Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) as if their lovemaking were a socially transgressive act. But not wrong in any way. She's a perky twentysomething, he's a Civil War veteran: What could be more natural than that?

True Blood‘ fans would give up their own blood to be a fly on the wall of the show’s writers’ room. Season three’s plot twists are a closely guarded secret. Many have wondered what mysterious alchemy transforms Charlaine Harris’s best selling Sookie Stackhouse books into the brilliant insanity of ‘True Blood.’ Series creator and showrunner Alan Ball shined enough light to incinerate a vampire on the writing process in time for Sunday’s premiere (HBO, 9/8c). Step 1: It All Begins With the Books:
“We always start with the books. We have been sort of focusing on one of Charlaine’s books per season so we started with the third book, which is called Club Dead. As always, our big challenge in translating books to the series is to open up the world outside of Sookie’s experience because Sookie [Anna Paquin] is the narrator of the books so the books are basically her story. So we look at what the books have and figure out a way to give all of other major characters stories that will somehow fold into the main story, the Sookie/Bill story. That’s what we did, just like we did the first two seasons.”Deciding when to deviate from the Books:
“It’s a totally organic process. A lot of times there are a lot of people pitching ideas. A lot of times we’ll find if we totally stick to the books here, how is that going to affect later on because we’re breaking the story three of four episodes down the line. It’s like well what if he wasn’t this but he was this instead? There’s not a formula. It’s pretty much gut instinct.”

Oprah Winfrey has had a host of guests visit her famous couch over the years who have offered life advice to her audience of millions, but could “True Blood’s” Ryan Kwanten be heading there in the coming months?
Ryan, who plays the ripped-but-intellectually-light Jason Stackhouse on the hit HBO vampire series, isn’t just an actor – he’s a writer too, one who has penned his own self-help book “The G-Strategy.”
Likely due for release in “early-mid next year,” the Australian actor told AccessHollywood.com recently that the book is part self-help guide, part parody, depending on the reader.
So is he taking aim at the books men and women buy to help boost their self esteem, Access asked?
“It’s actually both men and women, the self help books,” he said. “Predominantly, with men, it’s more the finance type world. With those, you’ve got the Wall Street guys that lap up anything that is a chance to make a quick buck and then with the women, I guess it’s sort of the more — without being too generalized — sort of the more emotional sort of type stuff that’s gonna make you happy.”read on

Question: The True Blood premiere was awesome. What’s coming up, ahem, necks? —Tyler
Ausiello:Tee-hee. You swapped next for necks in a question about True Blood. Tee-hee. Here’s some prattle for you, straight from series creator Alan Ball: In the second half of the season, “all hell breaks loose,” he tells my colleague Tim Stack. “Certainly, everybody finds themselves in danger. Loyalties are tested. There’s a lot of deceit.” And though the lies will be spread around, the dots will connect in the end. The stories “do converge,” Ball confirms, culminating in a season finale that he calls “very big. [But] it doesn’t center around one particular event the way the first one did. The first one was all about Rene chasing Sookie. The second one was all about Maryann’s ritual. This [time], there are a lot of big events” leading up to “definitely more than one cliff-hanger.” I’m on the edge of my seat already!Question: I saw pictures of Allan Hyde at the True Blood premiere. Any chance Godric’s going to return this season (yeah, he died, but you know what I mean)? —Maiyer
Ausiello: I think there’s a very good chance of him returning. And soon. Know what I mean

'True Blood' Season 3

June 14, 2010

The Post's Hank Stuever takes your questions about "True Blood's" Season 3 premiere, his review of the show and his thoughts about the current popularity of vampires and werewolves in American culture.

One of my favorite books of 2009 was "The Strain." The result of a collaboration between Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, "The Strain" offered a decidedly fresh (and exceedingly creepy) take on the vampire myth.

Framing vampirism as a biological condition akin to a virus, the book is part vampire story, part outbreak novel and all satisfying. New York City is consumed by this disease as we follow a few colorful character in their struggle against the rising storm.